Camera



March 25, 1941. A ROBINTQN 2,236,069

CAMERA Filed May 51, 1939 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 K 10, H K 11 M so i INVENTOR51 I Fgmv/f 14. FO /N7 AT ORNEY Patented Mar. 25, 1941 PATENT OFFICECAMERA Frank A. Robinton, Hartford, Coma, assignor to Universal CameraCorporation, New York, N. 31., a corporation of Delaware Application May31, 1939, Serial No. 276,639

6 Claims.

This invention relates generally to cameras. More particularly, myinvention relates to an improved construction of a multiple lens mountfor cameras. V

One of the objects of my invention is to provide an improved multiplelens mount of the character described, adapted to be attached to acamera, which shall be so designed that a rapid change may readily bemade from one type of lens to another type.

Another object of my invention is to provide a novel multiple lens mountof the character described, adapted to be attached to a camera, whichshall comprise relatively few and simple 5 parts, which shall be easy toassembly, which shall be economical in manufacture, which shall berugged in construction while still maintaining accuracy, and which atthe same time shall operate with a high degree of eiiiciency.

Other objects of this invention will in part be obvious and in parthereinafter pointed out.

The invention accordingly consists in the features of construction,combinations of elements, and arrangement of parts which will beexempli- 25 died in the construction hereinafter described,

and of which the scope of application will be indicated in the followingclaims.

In-the accompanying drawings, in which is shown one of the variousposible embodiments 30 of this inventiom Fig. 1 is a side elevationalview of a camera with my novel turret lens mountattached thereto, inaccordance with my invention,

Fig. 2 is a front elevational view giereof, Fig. 3 is a plan' viewthereof, V

Fig. 4 is an enlarged cross sectional view taken substantially on theline H of Fig. 2,

Fig. 5 is a cross sectional view taken substantially on the line 55 ofFig. 4, but of reduced 40 scale,

Fig. 6 is a cross sectional view taken substantially on the line H ofFig. 4, and

Fig. 7 is a cross sectional view taken substantially on the line 'I--|of Fig. 1.

45 Referring now in detail to the drawings, I have disclosed a turretlens mount ll constructed in accordance with my invention and adapted tobe attached to a camera of any suitable type, such as for example thecamera ll. The turret 50 mount III is designed to support a plurality ofcamera lenses, A, B and C. The said lenses A,

B and C may be of any desired known type, such as for example A mayrepresent a general purpose lens of standard focal length for the par-66 tlcular camera employed, B, a wide angle lens or any other desiredtype of lens, and C, a telephoto or long focus lens. It is noted thatother types and styles of lens may be employed in place of the lens A, Band C and that my invention extends to such use.

The turret mount l0 comprises a bracket member l2 having a part l2athereof overlying a portion of a wall of the camera H and fixedlyattached thereto by any suitable attaching means, such as for examplethe screws 13, as shown in 19 Figs. 1 and 8. The bracket member i2 isalso provided with an integral outwardly projecting shaft portion 12?),the said shaft portion having an internally threaded opening itextending inwardly from the free end thereon. A portion 15 I of the saidshaft l2b spaced from the end thereof is provided with circumferentiallyspaced projecting equal teeth l5 (see Figs. 5 and 7) interconnected byequal notch portions IS. A turret frame 20 is provided having anoutwardly 20 projecting bearing portion 20a. The said portion 20a isprovided with an opening 2i in axial alignment with the opening M of theshaft portion I21), and designed to slidably receive therein a plugmember 22 having a screw threaded shank 23 of reduced diameterthreadedly received in the threaded opening I l. The wall of the opening2| adjacent the inner end thereof is provided with inwardly projecting,circumferentially spaced equal tooth portions 24 adapted to selectivelyfit into any of the notches it of the shaft portion I20, to form aspline connection between the shaft I21) and the turret member 20.

It isthus seen from the above described construction that when the plugmember shank 23 is threadedly received in the opening l4, the turretframe 20 will be held eaptively attached to the bracket l2, and that thedistance to which the turret frame 20 may be slidably moved away fromthe bracket member I2 is defined by the teeth j 24 and the inner edge ofthe plug member 22.

To normally urge the turret frame 20 in a direction toward the camera IIand at the same time to provide a resilient contactive engagement forthe inner end of the selected lens with the camera wall adjacent thelight opening 30 (see Fig. '7) I provide a coil compression spring 3! inthe opening 2|, surrounding the shaftportion l2b and having one end ofthe spring abutting the teeth 24 and the other end of the said springpressing against the plug member 22. The plug member 22 may be providedwith ascrew head 22a to adjust the amount of tension exerted by thespring 3|, by-causing the threaded shank 23 to move inwardly oroutwardly of the opening M.

It is also seen from the above described construction that when theteeth 26 are engaged in the notches it (see Figs. 4 and 5) the turretframe 20 will be prevented from rotational movement about the plugmember 22 as an axis. The turret'portion 20 may, however, by slidablymoved in an axial direction with respect to the opening 2i and away fromthe bracket l2 against the action of the spring 3!, to the dotted lineposition 28' shown in Fig. 4. In such position the teeth 24 will havemoved clear of the notches i6 and the turret frame 26 may then be freelyrotated. When the turret frame is released after a predetermined periodof rotation, it will spring back to its original or normal position, asshown in full lines in Fig. 4, and be 'held against further rotationalmovement by the 20 teeth meshing with the projections l5.

As clearly shown in Figs. 2, 5 and 6, the turret frame 20 is providedwith openings 35 designed to receive the lenses A, B and C. Any suitablefastening means may be employed for retaining 25 the lenses A, B and Cin fixed assembly with the turret mount 20, as for example the setscrews 36, 31 and 38. It is noted that the centers of the said openings35 are equidistant from the axis of the plug member 2i about which theturret frame 20 rotates. Such distance or radius is determined by thefixed location of the camera light aperture 30, so that upon rotationalmovement of the turretframe 28, as hereinabove described, any lens A, Bor C may be selectively properly positioned with respectto the saidcamera aperture 30. I

In Fig. 6 of the-drawings, the long focus lens C is shown mounted in theturret mount opening 35. It is noted that a portion 39 thereof projectsbe- 40 yond said opening in a direction toward the camera ll, and thatcamera lens mount 46 surrounding the light aperture 30 is of suchdiameter that it will fit freely within the adjacent opening 4| of thelens C, there being aclearance provided between the outer wall of thecamera mount 40 and the threaded wall of the opening 4|. The end surface39a of the lens C is smoothly finished and the surface Ila of the camerawall surrounding the camera lens mount 40 is corre- 50 spondinglysmoothly finished to provide a light proof frictional contact betweenthe said finished surfaces. It is therefore seen that when the turretframe 20 is rotated so that the lens C is in proper position foreffective use, the spring 3| will cause the lens C to snap into properposition i2 is provided with a pair of fixed convex pro-- jections 43and 44 (see Fig. 7) which are so positioned that when the lens C iseffectively aligned with respect to the camera. mount 40, the projection43 will be received-within the rear opening of the lens A' (Fig, 5)while at the same time vthe projection 44 will enter the rear opening ofL .the lens B. Similarly,when either of the lenses Am B are effectivelypositioned, the two remaining lenses will receive the projections 43 andI4.

70, There is thus provided also protective covering for the lensopening.

While in Fig.6 of the drawings I have illustrated the mounting of thelens C, it is to be understood that the other lens A and B are similarlymounted and used, and that the clearaescpee ance between the walls Gdand M will be correspondingly reduced in proportion to the smaller sizedlens openings.

When using a long focus lens of the type of the lens C, the standardview finder opening 5b in the camera, which is suitably designed for theother lenses A and B, will not be correct for the long focus lens. Inaccordance with my invention, I have therefore provided the followingconstruction which will automatically alter the view finder opening 5twhenever the lens C is effectively positioned for use.

A portion 56 of the turret frame 26, projectin downwardly and inwardlytoward the camera, is provided with an opening 52 designed to overlieand be in register with the camera view finder opening at (see Figs. 4and '1) when the lens C has been positioned over the camera lens mount36. Overlying the opening 52 is a plate 53 provided with an aperture 5dof smaller size than the opening 52, but in axial registrationtherewith.

It is thus seen that when the camera operator looks through the cameraview finder when using the lens C, he will be looking through theconstricted opening 5%, which isof predetermined size, in accordancewith the focus of the lens C.

The plate 53 may be removably mounted on the turret mount casting 20 byany suitable means;

such as the screws 55,. so that plates having different sized openingsmay be employed with different lenses. Openings 5% in the plate 53through which the screws 55 pass are made larger than the said screws,so that the aperture 54 may be adjusted and centered with respect to theopenings 50 and 52 by moving the plate 53.

It will thus be seen that there is provided a device in which theseveral objects of this invention are achieved, and which is welladapted to meet the conditions of practical use.

As various possible embodiments mightbe made of the above invention, andas various changes might be made in the embodiments above set forth, itis to be understood that all matter herein set forth or shown in theaccompa y n drawings is to be interpreted as illustrative and not in alimiting sense.

Having thus described my invention, I claim as new and desire to secureby Letters Patent:

1. For use with a camera, a lens mount comprising a first -memberadapted to be fixedly attached to said camera, a second member rotatablymounted on said first member, a plurality of lenses mounted on saidsecond member, means for resiliently urging said second member in adirection toward said camera whereby one of said lenses selected foreffective use by rotating said second member may be resilientlymaintained in proper optical alignment with the camera aperture, meanscomprising a splined connection between said first and second membersfor preventing rotational movement of said second member prising a firstmember adapted to be fixedly attached to said camera, said first memberhaving a' projecting shaft portion and a shoulder adja-' cent said shaftportion, a second member, three lenses axially slidably mounted on saidsecond member, said lenses being arranged in triangular formation, saidsecond member having a bearing portion receiving said projecting shaftportion therein whereby said second member is rotatable and slidablewith respect to said first member, circumferentially arrangedprojections on said shaft adapted to be received in correspondingcircumferential recesses in said bearing portion to prevent rotation ofsaid second member, and a spring urging said second member toward saidfirst member to normally maintain said projections within said recesses,a projecting portion on said bearing being adapted to cooperate withsaid shoulder on said first member to act as a limit for the travel ofsaid second member toward said first member, said spring being soarranged that one of said lenses may be selected for effective use byslidably moving said second member away from said first member againstthe action of said spring a sufiicient distance to withdraw said secondmember projections out of their corresponding recesses to permitrotational movement of said second member.

3. For use with a camera, a lens mount comprising a first member adaptedto be'fixedly attached to said camera, a second member rotatably mountedon said first member, a plurality of lenses mounted on said secondmember, means for resilientlyurging said second member in a directiontoward said camera whereby one of said lenses selected for effective useby rotating said second member may be resiliently maintained in properoptical alignment with the camera aperture, and means comprising asplined connection between said first and second members for preventingrotational movement of said second member when said selected lens isthus properly aligned, said second member being movable away from saidfirst member against the action of said resilient means to render saidrotational movement preventing means ineffective.

4. For use with a camera, a lens mount comprising a first member adaptedto be fixedly attached to said camera, a second member rotatably mountedon said first member, a plurality of lenses mounted on said secondmember, means for resiliently urging said second member in a directiontoward said camera whereby one of said lenses selected for effective useby rotating said second member may beresiliently maintained in properoptical alignment with the cam era aperture, and means comprising asplined connection between said first and second members for preventingrotational movement of said second member when said selected lens isthus properly aligned, the number of splines in said connection being amultiple of the number of lenses on said second member, said secondmemher being movable away from said first member against the action ofsaid resilient means to render said rotational movement preventing meansinefiective. I

5. For use with a camera, a lens mount comprising a first member adaptedto be fixedly attached to said camera, said first member having aprojecting shaft portion and a shoulder adjacent said shaft portion, asecond member, a plurality of lenses mounted on said second member, saidsecond member having a bearing portion receiving said projecting shaftportion therein whereby said second member is rotatable and slidablewith respect to said first member, the optical axes of said lenses beingequi-spaced from the center of rotation of said second member,circumferentially arranged projections on said shaft adapted to bereceived in corresponding circumferential recesses in said bearingportion to prevent rotation of said second member, and a spring urgingsaid second member toward said first member to normally maintain saidprojections within said recesses,v a projecting portion on said bearingbeing adapted to cooperate with said shoulder on said first member toact as a limit for the travel of said second member toward said firstmember, said spring being so arranged that one of said lenses may beselected for effective use by slidably moving said second member awayfrom said first member against the action of said spring a sufficientdistance to withdraw said second member projections out of their corresponding recesses to permit rotational movement of said second member.

6. For use with a camera having a built-on view finder, a lens mountcomprising a first member adapted to be fixedly attached to said camera,a second member rotatably mounted on said first member, a plurality oflenses mounted on said second member, means for resiliently urging saidsecond member in a direction toward said camera whereby one of saidlenses selected for effective use by rotating said second member mayberesiliently maintained in proper optical alignment with the cameraaperture, means comprising a splined connection between said first andsecond members for preventing rotational movement of said second memberwhen said selected lens is thus properly aligned, said second memberbeing movable away from said first member against the action of saidresilient means to render said-rotational movement preventing meansineffective, and a mask blade carried by said second member, said maskblade being so positioned as to automatically mask the view finderWhenever a predetermined one or said lenses is positioned for efiectiveuse.

FRANK A. ROBIN-TON.

